Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Alex and I have been discussing the future of the Bunnell project. One thing we have noticed whenever we speak to UVU administrators about the Cafe aspect of our idea they immediately say, "Well, there is a cafe in the new library." At that point, for them at least, the discussion is over.

While it is true that the new library does indeed serve coffee and has places to sit, it is far from the atmosphere we are trying to create for the Bunnell. This dichotomy between what the administrators consider a cafe and what we think the Bunnell could be, has pointed out that the cafe aspect of our project is really secondary to our aim of saving the structure itself.

During this transitional time as a new president is chosen, and the school is getting used to its new status as a university, we think it is wise to focus on saving the Bunnell Pioneer Home and making it a part of student life.

Of course the cafe portion of the overall plan is still important to the process, but we think focusing on saving the structure itself has the best chance of getting the attention of administrators on campus.

Leave a comment below and tell us what you think of our new focus. We need your feedback in order to craft a plan that will work. Thanks!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

With the fall semester just a few weeks away I thought I'd take the time to inform all of you Bunnell Buddies out there about the latest news. As I am sure you have heard Bill Sederburg is leaving his post as head of UVU to be the commissioner of higher ed for the state. Taking his place for the next year while the Board of Regents looks for a new president will be Liz Hitch. Chances are any interim president would be leery of making any huge commitments to groups such as us because any decision could be undone by the new president.

This puts the Bunnell Cafe Project in an interesting position for this upcoming year to say the least. Perhaps this will give us more time to build a wider coalition of support and to flesh out the operational framework.

Alex recently spoke to the person who most recently (about 7 years ago) did a survey of the Bunnell Home, in the hopes of having a new study done at a reduced price. Alex says the conversation went well, and now we just need the school to pony up the cash.

So during this transitional period we are going to continue to collect signatures, raise awareness, and formulate a business plan. Thank you all for your support.

Without on-campus housing UVSC has always faced the problem of trying to build a cohesive student experience. Val Hale, the school's VP for advancement, noted that half the student just goes to class and never participates in any other campus activity. He went on to say:

"We should give them a better university experience. We need to do some things to keep them here and get them involved — participate in college life."

So the Board approved a list of four guiding principles to implement in the next 10 years to hopefully reverse this trend of student apathy. They are: engaged academic culture; multidimensional university experience; sustainable institutional vitality; and dynamic university infrastructure.

Of course we think The Bunnell Cafe would go a long way in promoting a better "university experience" and would follow right along with these four guiding principles.. Listed below is the contact information of the Board of Trustees members. Send them a note saying The Bunnell Cafe would be a perfect way to increase student activity, retention, cultural involvement, and overall campus pride.

Wednesday, February 27, 2008

As many of you know Alex and I met with Student Government council members a few weeks ago to discuss the possibility of funding the Bunnell Cafe project. While we haven't heard anything official from the council we have heard from other sources that they are, for now at least, passing on the project.

While we are disappointed in their decision, we know that our project is ambitious and understand why some might be wary at this time. We hope the council changes its mind, if not now then perhaps next year with a new council.

In the meantime I had a fantastic conversation with Susan Thackeray that has reinvigorated me for this project. Susan is the director of Career and Technical Education and she is excited to use our project as a way for students to get hands-on experience. Construction management, culinary arts, business....all of these students could benefit from such an interdisciplinary project.

I am hoping that this minor setback will actually give us more time to come up with the best game plan. And I am confident that we can make this little dream a reality.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Alex and I got a chance to lay out our proposal to the folks in student government this afternoon. I think it went really well. Click the link below and you can have your own version of the presentation we gave them:

Friday, January 25, 2008

Alex and I got a chance to sit down with UVSC president Bill Sederburg this afternoon and talk to him about The Bunnell Cafe. He is a busy guy (what with the legislature in session and all) but he still managed to make time for a couple of dreamers.

And best of all he was very supportive of the idea and gave us some great advice for how to go about making it happen. Of course he also hit us with a heavy dose of reality. The project is going to be rather expensive, and there are some on the campus who really covet the land the house is sitting on. We don't blame them...the location is perfect. He wants to see some more concrete plans of how the Cafe will function, and he would like to see it get some more support from the VP level.

But basically Bill said anything is possible with the right funding. It was very encouraging. Next stop is a meeting with student government on February 7th.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

We had a good showing of support today for our first petition table. Big thanks to Joey for helping out. And Michael Morrow gets the big award for snagging the most signatures. We are still well short of our goal of 2400, so chances are you will see us out in the halls harassing folks for the rest of the month. If you are one of the brave few that have pages of signatures make sure and get them to Vegor, Alex, Travis, or Joey soon.

We have a presentation with the student fee committee scheduled tentatively for Feb. 7th. When we have more details we will let you know the particulars because we sure could use the support.

Our meeting with Bill Sederburg has been postponed till next Thursday. We will let you know how that goes.

Monday, January 14, 2008

This week, I will be getting petitions signed for the project and meeting with UVSC president Bill Sederburg. We are also working on getting an account set up with the UVSC Foundation so that we can start the fund raising in earnest.